NiGHTMARE
by DoomNightAt12
Summary: Robin and Beast Boy encounter a living nightmare. Surviving the night is the goal. Silence is the key.


Robin sprinted and flipped across the titans tower lounge, trying to maintain distance from his attacker. His chest had begun to rise and fall rapidly from the constant pursuit and inability to get enough air into his lungs, but there was no time to stop as another blade lashed out at his side. His shirt was covered in tears from the countless near misses he'd had over the forty minutes, but he had only encountered one major injury from when the fight had stared. A surprise attack he had never seen coming as he had slept at the main computer.

Jump City had been quiet that evening and most of the titans had retired to bed early, all except the Boy Wonder, who remained in the lounge to review a number of files. This had dragged on deep into the night, until around one the silence had led him into the world of dreams. He had woken abruptly though, when a hand in his hair pushed his face harder onto the table, and a second hand pressed a metal device up to his mouth. He had gone to yell out but the device made a repetitive clanking sound as it's trigger was pulled, and it forced metal bands similar in style to staples over his lips. Trying to escape the agonizing pain he pushed at the hands and rolled away, falling into a defensive stance but holding his hands over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. From a quick feel he could tell the metal was deeply embedded in his face, and some points it had even gone through his lips to begin rubbing against his teeth and gums. He began to size up the pain of trying to remove them, but was put off by his attacker running at him dark intent, and that had been as far as the battle had gotten.

Once the body of the pain had subsided and the blood had stopped dripping down his neck, all his intention was able to go back to finding a counter offensive. Unfortunately so far there had been any kind of one, and with each step the blade drew closer and panic grew higher, until a misstep let the blade slice through his left shoulder. His attention snapped to the searing pain that shook his arm, causing him to flip backwards with his right arm to re-space himself away. The two enemies stared each other down, Robin grateful for even a few seconds of reprieve as he sucked in air through his nose.

The opposing man held a fine composure, with barely a scratch upon his black outfit. One thing Robin had always hated was the fact that the black and orange mask gave nothing away, the single eye watching him, unwavering. In the second it took to blink the fight was back on. Slade held a blade in each hand, advancing with each slash he took at the boy. He resumed his back stepping with no other option available, disarmed of his utility belt and re distracted by injuries. He didn't know how long he could keep at the same cat and mouse action, but he didn't have time to calculate anything when he suddenly bumped into the kitchen bench, startling him and letting Slade plunge a blade inches from his chest and under his arm. Missing the boy's flesh the mercenary fell in closer, their faces inches apart, but Robin could feel an opening and with his elbows firmly placed on the bench behind he hoisted his knees up between them, forcing a powerful kick into the taller man's abdomen. An audible grunt was heard from both of the combatants, and the boy wonder would have grinned if not for the restrictions of his lower face. The game was back on in a flash with Slade rushing at him again, following closely as the younger rolled back onto the bench top to escape the blood stained piece of metal. Slade easily followed, but now knowing his exact position in the room Robin finally had an idea. The rooms only door was directly behind him, and next to it was the security system that could wake the rest of the titans.

He had to time it right, three steps back, flip off the table to land a mere meter away, out stretch his arms, just a few more steps back and...  
He'd only looked back for a second, but that was enough for Slade who crouched down and charged at him, sending there two bodies through the door and into the hallway wall. Robin flailed under the mercenaries arm, which had pinned him to the wall with his arms stuck behind his back, desperately trying to replenish the lack of air in his lungs. Through gritted teeth he pushed at both the older man and the wall, desperate to get a reprieve that neither of the two were willing to give. He continued to kick about, the metal of his shoe beginning to dent the solid wall and scratch at Slade's metal armor. For the moment, all he could do was cause as much sound as possible, and hope that someone would hear. He pleaded that someone would come soon, as Slade's free arm moved towards his face.

* * *

Beast Boy twitched in his sleep. He was having his favorite dream, the one with all the girls and the moped, but for some reason his dream ride continued to make unhealthy clunking noises.

"No worries ladies, I'll just...just...uh..."

The noise continued to get louder and more frantic, the sound of scrapping metal joining the chorus, until BB eventually opened his eyes to realize the noise wasn't from his dream. He mumbled something about wanting to continue sleeping but curiosity got the better of him, and he slid out of bed and traversed his mind field of a floor. Sneaking out the door he crept along the dark hallways, making sure to step as lightly as possible. He wasn't sure what he was going to find but as the sound got louder he started to feel a bit afraid, a desperate sort of grunting noise had been added to the mix. He froze at the end of the main hallway, spotting one of their worst enemies digging a thumb into their pinned leaders eye socket. Instinct kicked in and Beast Boy took off into a sprint, changing into a ram a few meters away and charging into Slade's side, causing him to drop Robin and fly down the hall.

Released, the Boy Wonder rested on one knee, sucking in as much air through his nose before glancing at his savior. As he morphed back to human Beast Boy was shocked, wondering how he had gone from his peaceful dream to being in a living nightmare. While Slade seemed to stay down he turned to look at Robin, taking in the blood that was running once more from the hole caused by the metal strips, and the skin that had ripped further along his cheeks. The two locked eyes, the only light in the hall emitted from the broken doors letting in the moon light. A shadow appeared and Robin's eyes widened as Slade took the changeling by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall behind them, then landed a square hit to his face. Stars flashed across his vision and he promptly slumped to the ground. Slade spun on his heel to face Robin, who had gotten into a fighting stance and launched a fist as the man. As per usual the mercenary caught it the ease, swing the arm so he collided with the door frame. Going in for a kick the boy wonder rolled out the way, taking the fight back into the lounge.

Beast Boy shook his head, the pain quickly subsiding to allow him to stand back up. He stepped into the doorway to see the two fighting equally, but with most of Robin's attacks getting blocked no matter what he tried to do. He knew two against one was a better set of odds, so he charged into the fight as a rhino, aiming once more at Slade. Even when attacking at the mans blind side he expertly dodged the changeling, jumping and landing on the boys head. BB quickly morphed to an elephant to try swat him away with his trunk, but Slade jumped once more and delivered a swift kick to Robin's head before flipping away. Regaining composure the titans leader charged at their enemy, having the changeling's monkey form jump out before him. Slade remained still and simply swatted away Beast Boy before blocking each hit Robin threw at him. The fight was still not going anywhere.

After a number more of failed combination attacks the two titans were exhausted. Robin and Slade were still matching hits, but Beast boy had retreated back towards the door and for the first time that night he yelled out to his team mate.

"I'll go get the other titans!"

Robin was shocked when Slade changed tactics to delivered a powerful kick to his chest, before turning his head at neck breaking speeds to look at the green boy. In a literal instant he was upon the changeling, his single eye wide with furry. Taking the boys head in his hand he slammed him into the ground, then into the adjacent wall, before grabbing his arms and pulling him against his chest, twisting his arms at joint popping angles. BB's eyes blurred for a second before he spotted the glint of a blade in the older mans hand. His entire brain froze as he felt it being drawn across his neck, and as the blood began spill down the front of his shirt, his legs went weak and he collapsed into the fetal position. Slade's demeanor calmed and he turned back to Robin, who had watched the attack unfold upon his friend. From what he could tell Slade was on a mission, and he didn't want anyone else to interfere.

* * *

_AN: ...  
I should mention one thing I guess. Since BB's healing factor was never really shown in the cartoon series I've put a condition on it. He has to focus on the wound to heal it. A wound can stay if he doesn't notice it.  
If I ever get around to it, I've planned one more chapter(probably shorter than this), plus an optional epilogue._


End file.
